This closing week of the year 2022 is a meaningful period
for reflection on our nation’s plight. The likeness of our present societal
climate with the times of the first Christmas is striking.
POVERTY
First Christmas Then.
“Mary and Joseph, New Testament scholars say, living
in an oppressive society… were heavily taxed by local and faraway rulers…the peasants
at the time Jesus was born lived in an atmosphere of upheaval and social discontent.”
(Tale of Jesus’ Birth Provides Look at Social Climate of the Times, Los
Angeles Times, Dec. 24, 1994)
Richard Horsley, author of “Liberation of Christmas,”
a book about the social and political climate at the time of Jesus’ birth,
suggests a tense and often confrontational relationship that existed between
the farmers, fishermen, and townspeople of Galilee and Herod, Roman officials,
and the urban aristocracy, who held all the wealth and power.
About 10% of the population was born into nobility and
lived lavishly. The remaining 90% worked the fields around Nazareth, growing
grapes, olives, and grain, Horsley said.
“Some may have been better off than others – and we’re
talking about approximately 90% of the Mediterranean population – but most
peasants lived a precarious existence,” biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan
said in an interview in Christian Century magazine. L.A. Times in the same
article chronicled that while the rich prospered, the peasants suffered.
PH Christmas Today.
“Rich-Poor Divide in PH Among Worst in Region”
(Inquirer)
The Philippines remains a world laggard in closing the
gap between the rich and poor, the Inquirer reported, as a consequence of
meager funding for social services, dismal tax collection rates, and low
respect for labor rights during the pandemic, according to a study by Oxfam
International and Development Finance News (DFN).
The World Bank in its latest study released on November
24, 2022, on PH poverty highlighted: “In 2021, poverty rose to 18.1 percent
despite large government assistance. The economy has begun to rebound but signs
are emerging that the recovery will be uneven. Prolonged loss of income has
taken a heavy toll on the poorest households.”
As of 2022, over 5.6 million Filipino families, Rappler reported, are living in poverty according to findings of the Listahanan 3 survey released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
INEQUALITY
First Christmas Then
Excerpts of original research, “Poverty in the
First-Century Galilee,” by Sakari Hakkinen of the Department of New Testament
Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa, cited:
“In the ancient world poverty was a visible and common
phenomenon. According to estimations 9 out of 10 persons lived close to the
subsistence level or below it. There was no middle class. The state did not
show much concern for the poor…
“Inequality was typical for all the societies in the
Ancient world. M.I. Finley [academic & classical scholar] writes:
‘The obvious difficulty with the city-state as a
community, with its stress on mutual sharing of both burdens and benefits, was
the hard fact that its members were unequal. The most troublesome inequality
was not between town and country, not between classes, but simply between rich
and poor.’
PH Christmas Today
“Philippines Wealth Gap Widens” – World Bank
In a report titled “Overcoming Poverty and Inequality
in the Philippines: Past, Present, and Prospects for the Future,” the World
Bank said:
“Inequality remains high: the top 1% of earners
together capture 17% of national income, with only 14% being shared by the
bottom 50%. With an income Gini coefficient [which measures income inequality
within a nation] of 42.3% in 2018, the Philippines had one of the highest rates
of income inequality in East Asia.”
An elite few continue to hold a bulk of national
wealth, World Bank reported.
Studies also found that the Philippines is “struggling with deeply rooted inequality, shaped by the sociopolitical environment.
DIVISIVENESS
First Christmas Then
Here’s an episode taken from the play “When Mary Tells
Joseph.”
Mary: Joseph, my betrothed, my darling, I must tell
you what more the angel said.
Joseph: [Smiling and very happy.] Continue. I
believe you! I am excited!
Mary: Joseph, the angel did not mention you.
[Joseph is startled.]
Joseph: What? I don’t understand.
Mary: [She speaks slowly.] I asked how I could have
a son since I am a virgin. The angel answered that the Holy Spirit will come
upon me.
Joseph: What?? [Dropping his hands.] What
does that mean? ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon’ you?
Mary: [Patiently and trying to understand herself.] Well,
it’s hard to explain, but it happened. Let me continue telling you what the
angel told me. The angel said, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be
called the Son of God.’
Joseph: [Puzzled, drawing away.] What? ‘The Most
High will overshadow you’? ‘So the holy one to be born will be called the Son
of God.’ What do those statements mean?
Mary: I’ll tell you. But let me continue what the
angel said. Then the angel immediately told me that my relative Elizabeth was
going to have a child in her old age and was in her sixth month. It was as if
Elizabeth’s pregnancy was to be a sign that everything the angel said was true.
Joseph: Well, Elizabeth is pregnant.
Mary: [Taking a deep breath, walking over to him.] Joseph,
this is what I must tell you. I am pregnant.
Joseph: [Astounded] What? [Many emotions cross his
face. Disbelief. Amazement. Anger, especially anger. He backs away from Mary.
He storms around the stage. He rubs his hand through his hair. He returns to
Mary.] Pregnant? You? Who has done this? Who has defiled my betrothed?
Mary: No man has defiled me. No one has raped me. I
am still a virgin.
Joseph: [Loudly. Beginning to show anger.] But how
can you be pregnant?
PH Christmas Today
Let’s set aside the context of the above play and get
past Joseph and Mary’s story. Instead, let’s spotlight the anger on one side
and the dejection on the other side. Then, let’s recall this one question we
could have raised over the dinner table or wherever in the recent past: “How
could you ever vote for this candidate to be our next President?” As a
consequence of such a soul-stirring question: How many bonds of brotherhood,
sisterhood, parenthood, neighborhood, friendships, and other relationships have
turned stale, if not left broken, to this day?
“’Polarized Society’ May Await Filipinos After May 9 National
Elections – W & R” (Inquirer)
“The campaign reflects the polarization of society that might be carried over to the next administration. This is what political life and social life would look like post-election, which could be a potential political instability that could impact the business sector.” (Dr. Robin Michael Garcia, Founder, and CEO of W & R)
EPILOGUE
“There were shepherds camping in the countryside,
keeping watch over their flocks by night. Suddenly an angel of the Lord
appeared to them, with the Glory of the Lord shining around them.
“As they were terrified, the angel said to them,
‘Don’t be afraid; I am here to give you good news, great joy for all people.
Today a Savior has been born to you in David’s town; he is the Messiah and the Lord.
Let this be a sign to you; you will find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in
a manger.
“Just then the angel was surrounded by many more
angels, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth
for God is blessing humankind.’” (Luke 2:8-14)
May God bless the Philippines in the New Year 2023!
Head still photo courtesy of Admiral General M. @ pixabaydotcom
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